Bellaire police 'very tight-lipped' over shooting, family says

By Mike Tolson |
January 5, 2009

Marian Tolan, left, her husband, Bobby Tolan, center, and their attorney, Geoffrey Berg, attend the Bellaire City Council meeting Monday.

Photo By Julie Soefer/Handout photo

Robbie Tolan remains in the ICU at Ben Taub General Hospital. Tolan was shot by a Bellaire Police officer last week.

Robbie Tolan will likely live the rest of his life with a bullet lodged in his liver.

It's a painful reminder of his encounter last Wednesday with a white Bellaire police officer, who fired at least three shots at the unarmed 23-year-old black man in his own driveway.

Bellaire police and city officials have said Sgt. Jeff Cotton mistakenly thought Tolan's Nissan Xterra had been stolen, but Tolan's relatives say he was a victim of racial profiling and did nothing to justify being shot as his parents watched outside their home.

They came away unsatisfied, their attorneys said. Officials offered prayers for a speedy recovery, but little more.

"I speak for the Tolans when I say they are extremely disappointed that the city couldn't find it in their schedule to offer two words: 'We're sorry,' " said the family's attorney, Geoffrey Berg. "The city would have done well to say that it was sorry just that it happened."

At the hospital, Tolan was conscious but in such severe pain that he had difficulty talking, said Berg. Doctors expect Tolan to survive, but they do not expect to release him from the hospital any time soon, Berg said.

Tolan's parents and a dozen or so other relatives declined to speak to reporters Monday night, but Berg said the family believed the city was covering up for Cotton's actions and couldn't be trusted to properly investigate or discipline him.

Cotton, a 10-year veteran of the department, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Harris County District Attorney's Office. His attorney, Paul Aman, did not return phone calls for comment Monday.

Officials still haven't provided a detailed explanation of what Tolan did to arouse officers' suspicion in the first place and how Cotton came to believe he was driving a stolen vehicle. Bellaire police also have declined to explain why Cotton believed his life was in danger when he fired at Tolan, who was unarmed.

That's why it's crucial for the District Attorney's Office to conduct its own vigorous probe, Berg said. Newly sworn-in DA Pat Lykos has assured the Tolan family that her office will do just that, he said.

The shooting took place about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, shortly after Robbie Tolan and his cousin Anthony Cooper returned from a nearby Jack-In-The-Box and pulled into the driveway of the Tolans' home in the 800 block of Woodstock.

Stories in conflict

According to a statement later released by Bellaire police, officers approached Tolan and Cooper under the mistaken belief that their 2004 Nissan Xterra had been stolen.

Police said an argument broke out as the officers tried to detain and question the two men, but family members said both Tolan and Cooper complied after officers ordered them, at gunpoint, to drop to the ground.

Drawn by the commotion, Tolan's parents came outside. His mother, Marian Tolan, told police she was the homeowner and that her son's car wasn't stolen, said Berg, the family's attorney. He said Sgt. Cotton grabbed the 55-year-old woman and threw her against her garage door. When her son rose slightly from the ground to protest, Cotton fired, striking him once in the abdomen, Berg said. At least two other shots missed and somehow wound up in the ceiling of the home's front porch.

At Monday's council meeting, City Manager Bernie Satterwhite said he felt bad for Tolan and wished him a speedy recovery, but declined to comment on the details of the case or the investigation.

"I don't know what, why or how the shooting happened," Satterwhite said. "Any comment I could provide would only be based on speculation."

Satterwhite, who is in charge of disciplining city employees, including police officers, acknowledged that he was a personal acquaintance of Cotton's.

Mayor Cindy Siegel declined to comment on the case until the District Attorney's Office finishes its investigation, but said city officials would be fair and impartial.

"Based on the findings, the city will take any steps needed to ensure the safety of all citizens," she said at the meeting.

'People feel safe here'

Earlier in the day, Siegel said she has not received any complaints from minority residents of Bellaire about mistreatment by the city's police force.

"I have never heard any minority resident come forward and say they were being picked on, and in Bellaire that's something we would have heard about," Siegel said. "People will complain if they have a problem. I think there is an excellent relationship with residents — 99.99 percent of the time all I hear of is very positive things about our police. It's one reason people feel safe here."

Bellaire City Councilman Will Hickman said the shooting was a tragedy, but he has no concerns about race relations between the police department and citizens of Bellaire.

At the meeting, Satterwhite declined to discuss allegations that the shooting might have stemmed from racial profiling. Family members had difficulty believing a shooting at the home of the only black family on their Bellaire block was completely random, Berg said.

For now, Tolan's family is focused on his recovery. The .45-caliber bullet from Cotton's gun punctured his lung before lodging in his liver, Berg said.

"The doctors say that he'll likely have to live with the bullet in his liver for the rest of his life," he said.

The injury may end Tolan's hopes of following his father, former major league outfielder Bobby Tolan, into a professional baseball career, Berg said.

The younger Tolan, who attended Bellaire High School and Prairie View A&M University, was employed at a Pappadeaux restaurant at the time of the shooting, but Berg said he planned to attend spring training in Florida this year.